Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 14 The Spirit Medium

A true psychic… Klein murmured the description to himself, then followed Dunn Smith down from the carriage without saying another word.

Welch's residence in Tingen was a detached house with a garden. Outside the openwork iron gate was a road that could accommodate four carriages at the same time. Every fifty meters on both sides of the road, there was a street lamp. Unlike the ones Klein had seen in his previous life, these were gas lamps, with the pillars about the height of an adult male for easy lighting.

Black metal clings tightly to the glass, forming a grid that creates classical "works of art" resembling lanterns, where coldness and warmth dance together, and shadow and light coexist.

Walking along the dimly lit road, Klein and Dunn Smith passed through a half-open iron gate and entered Welch's rented place.

Directly opposite the gate is a cement-paved passageway that can accommodate two horse-drawn carriages, leading directly to the two-story house.

To its left is a garden, and to its right is a lawn. The delicate fragrance of flowers and the refreshing scents blend together, creating a delightful atmosphere.

As soon as he stepped inside, Klein suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and looked around nervously.

He felt that in the garden, in the shade of the lawn, on the rooftop, behind the swing, in every dimly lit corner, there were pairs of eyes watching him!

Even though the place was empty and deserted, Klein felt as if he were on a bustling street.

This bizarre contrast, this strange feeling, made his body tense up, and a chill ran up his tailbone.

"There's a problem!" he couldn't help but remind Dunn.

Dunn walked to the side without changing his expression and calmly replied:

"Don't worry about it."

Seeing that the "Night Watcher" had said so, Klein endured the chilling feeling of being followed, spied on, and scrutinized without being able to find his target, and walked step by step to the front door of the detached house.

If I stay here too long, I'll become neurotic... When Dunn reached out to knock on the door, Klein quickly turned around and glanced back. The flowers swayed in the wind, but there was no one in sight.

"Come in, gentlemen." A slightly ethereal voice came from inside the house.

Dunn turned the handle, pushed open the door, and entered, saying to the woman sitting on the sofa:

"Dali, is there any result?"

The living room chandelier was not lit, and a leather sofa with one main sofa and two secondary sofas surrounded a marble coffee table.

A candle was burning on the coffee table, but the flame emitted a bright blue light, casting a flickering and eerie glow over the semi-open layout of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

A woman sat in the center of the sofa. She wore a black robe with a hood, blue eyeshadow and blush, and a silver chain with a white crystal pendant wrapped around her exposed wrist.

The moment Klein saw her, he had a strange feeling: she was dressed like a real psychic...

Is this playing oneself?

The psychic, Daly, with her eerily beautiful eyes, swept over Klein with her shimmering emerald green gaze before looking at Dunn Smith and saying:

"The original spirits have all disappeared, including Welch's and Naya's. The little ones here now know nothing."

Spirits? Psychics…were those unseen observers spirits? There are so many spirits? Klein took off his hat, placed it in front of his chest, and bowed slightly.

Good evening, madam.

Dunn Smith sighed and said:

"This is really troublesome..."

"Dali, this is Klein Moretti. Try to find out something from him."

"The psychic" Daly's gaze immediately shifted to Klein, and she pointed to the armchair in the secondary seat, saying:

"Please sit down."

"Thank you." Klein nodded, took a few steps over, and sat down obediently, his heart pounding in his chest.

Whether they live or die, whether they survive successfully or their secret is exposed, depends on what happens next!

What makes him feel most powerless is that he lacks anything to rely on and can only place his hopes on something special...

This is a really bad feeling… Klein thought bitterly.

As Dunn sat down on the double sofa opposite him, "The Psychic" Daly took out two thumb-sized glass bottles from a hidden pouch at her waist.

She smiled at Klein with her emerald green eyes and said:

"I need some assistance. After all, you're not an enemy, so I can't treat you so directly and roughly. That would make you uncomfortable, cause pain, and even leave serious aftereffects. I'll give you some fragrance, enough gentleness and lubrication, so you can gradually open yourself up and truly immerse yourself in that feeling."

Something about that didn't sound quite right... Klein clicked his tongue, his eyes wide with surprise.

Dunn across from him smiled and said:

"Don't be surprised. Unlike those guys at the Church of the Lord of Storms, here, ladies can verbally flirt with men too. You should understand this; your mother is a devout believer in the goddess, and you and your brother attended the church's Sunday school."

"I understand, but I didn't expect it to be like this, like this..." Klein gestured, unable to find a suitable adjective, and almost blurted out the corresponding translation of "old driver".

Dunn's lips curled up as he said:

"Don't worry, Daly rarely does this. She just wants to calm you down and relax. She prefers corpses to men."

"You're making me sound like a pervert," Daly, the "psychic," interjected with a smile.

She opened one of the small bottles and sprinkled a few drops into the bright blue candle flame:

"The hydrosol made by distilling and extracting a blend of night-blooming jasmine, deep-sleeping flower, and chamomile, I call 'Amanda,' which means tranquility in Hermes. It smells wonderful."

As they spoke, the candlelight flickered a few times, and the few drops of pure dew evaporated quickly, filling the room.

A delicate and alluring fragrance wafted into Klein's nose, easing his tension and calming his mind, as if he were gazing into the darkness in the dead of night.

"This bottle is called 'Eye of the Spirit.' It's made by sun-drying the bark and leaves of the dragon-patterned tree and the poplar tree for seven days, boiling them three times, and then soaking them in Langqi wine. Of course, there are a few incantations involved..." The amber liquid, accompanied by the description from the "psychic" Daly, dripped onto the bright blue candlelight.

Klein smelled the aroma of wine, an ethereal and fleeting scent. He saw the candlelight flickering violently, and he saw Daly's blue eyeshadow and blush shimmering with an eerie glow, even appearing as double images.

"It's a great help in communicating with spirits, and also a captivating flower essence..."

As Daly narrated, Klein felt as if her voice came from all directions.

Looking around in confusion, Klein found that everything was shaking and blurry, as if shrouded in layers of thick fog. His own body was also shaking, blurring, floating, and losing its weight.

The reds were redder, the blues were bluer, and the blacks were blacker, the colors mixed together like an impressionist oil painting, hazy and dreamlike, while soft, overlapping murmurs came from all around, as if countless invisible people were talking.

"This feels similar to when I did the 'transfer ritual' before, but it doesn't have that crazy, explosive feeling..." Klein thought to himself, looking at everything.

Just then, his gaze was drawn to a pair of crystal-clear, emerald-like eyes. Daly, dressed in a black robe, sat on the blurry "sofa," her eyes strangely fixed on the top of Klein's head, and she chuckled softly:

"Let me formally introduce myself. I am Daly, the 'Psychic'."

Well… I can still think calmly and rationally… just like during the ‘Luck-Changing Ritual’ and the ‘Gathering’… Clay’s mind raced, and he deliberately feigned a dazed state: “Hello…”

"The human mind is vast and holds many secrets. Look at that ocean; we can only understand the islands that are above the surface. But in reality, beneath the surface, there are much larger parts of the islands. And beyond the islands, there is the entire ocean, and the boundless sky that symbolizes the spirit world..."

"You are the spirit of the body; you know not only the islands that are above the sea, but also the parts of the islands that are below the sea, and you know the whole ocean..."

"Everything that exists leaves a trace. The memories on the surface of an island can be erased, but the parts beneath the sea and the entire ocean surely have corresponding remnants..."

Daly guided him again and again, and the blurry wind and shadows around them changed into similar shapes, just as Klein's ocean of the soul was fully revealed here, waiting for him to find and discover it.

Klein watched calmly, the sea occasionally "churning," and finally answered in a hazy tone:

"No... I can't remember... I forgot..."

He displayed his pain perfectly.

Daly tried to induce him again, but the sober Klein remained unaffected.

"Alright, that's all for now. Go back."

"Let's go back."

"Let's go back..."

As the ethereal voice lingered, Dai Li disappeared, the wind and shadows began to subside, and the serene scent and faint aroma of wine became apparent again.

All the colors returned to normal, the blurry and disorienting feeling disappeared, and Klein's body trembled as he regained his weight.

He opened his eyes, which he didn't know when he had closed, and found that in front of him was still the same bright blue candle, still Dunn Smith sitting comfortably, and still the "psychic" Daly wearing a hooded black robe.

"Why did you use the theories of those evil lunatics from the Psychological Alchemy Society?" Dunn frowned slightly and looked at Daly.

As Dai Li put the two small bottles away, she calmly replied:

"I think it's quite correct; at least it aligns with some of the things I've seen and experienced..."

Before Dunn could speak again, she spread her hands and said:

"He was a tricky guy; he didn't leave any trace."

Upon hearing this, Klein, who was standing next to him, breathed a long sigh of relief and asked, feigning ignorance:

"Is it all over? What just happened? I felt like I took a nap..."

Does that mean I've passed the test?

Thankfully, there was a "rehearsal" for the "transfer ceremony"!

"Let's assume that's the case," Dunn interrupted him, looking at "The Psychic" Daly. "Have you examined Welch and Naya's bodies?"

"The bodies can tell us more than you think. It's a pity that Welch and Naya did commit suicide. It just goes to show that the force that influenced them was terrifying, leaving no trace whatsoever." Daly stood up and reached for the candle. "I need to rest."

The bright blue light disappeared, and the room was instantly filled with a hazy crimson glow.

…………

"Congratulations, you can go home now, but you must remember not to tell your family or friends about this. You must promise that." Dunn led Klein toward the door.

Klein asked in surprise, "Don't we need to check for traces of curses or evil spirits?"

"If Daly didn't say, then it means no," Dunn replied briefly.

Klein felt relieved, but remembering his previous worries, he quickly asked again:

How can I make sure there won't be any more problems later?

"Don't worry too much." Dunn twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "According to statistics, in similar situations, 80 percent of the surviving parties did not suffer any terrible aftermath. Well, this figure is based on my memory, roughly."

"And there's still a 20% chance of being unlucky..." Klein didn't dare risk it.

"Then you could consider joining us as an office worker. That way, we can detect any warning signs in time," Dunn said casually as he approached the carriage. "Or you could become an Extraordinary directly. After all, we're not your babysitters; we can't watch over you all night long, even watching what you do with women."

"May I?" Klein asked, following up on that question.

Of course, he had almost no hope, after all, how could he join the Night Watch team and gain extraordinary power so easily!

That's extraordinary power!

Dunn stopped in his tracks and glanced at him sideways:

"...It's not impossible, it depends on the situation..."

What? This turn of events startled Klein. He stood frozen beside the carriage for a moment before saying:

"real?"

Are you kidding me? Becoming an extraordinary person is that easy?

Dunn chuckled softly, his grey eyes obscured by the shadow of the carriage:

"Don't believe me? Actually, becoming a night watchman will cost you a lot, such as freedom."

"Even if we put that aside for now, there are other problems. First, you are not a clergyman who has performed meritorious service or a devout believer, so you can't be picky and choose the safest path."

"Secondly..." Dunn grabbed the handrail and stepped onto the carriage road, "We, the Punishers, the Mechanical Heart, and other similar judicial bodies, handle a quarter of the cases each year involving the loss of control by extraordinary individuals."

A quarter... The extraordinary one is out of control... Klein was stunned.

At this moment, Dunn turned halfway around, his gray eyes deep and unfathomable, and his lips twitched without a smile as he said:

"And a large portion of that quarter are our teammates."

(End of this chapter)